TAITA HILLS WILDLIFE SANCTUARY:

Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary is spectacularly located at the foot of the Taita Hills adjacent to Tsavo National Park, one of the world's largest game reserves.

The Sanctuary, established in 1972, is privately owned and managed and covers a protected area of 28,000 acres (approximately 110 sq. kms or 44 sq. miles) rising to an altitude of 1,200 meters above sea level (3,600 ft.).

It consists mainly of plains and woodlands, with typical riverbank vegetation along the water course. Flanked by the eye-catching and craggy Taita Hills, the park offers a safe-haven to a wide variety of animals and birds in a compact area of natural beauty. More than 50 species of mammals are found in this area and over 300 species of birds have been recorded within its boundaries.

Wildlife survives and thrives where there are suitable protected habitats and at Taita, a highly trained team of rangers ensure that none of the animals are disturbed or harassed in any way. An extensive network of roads give good access to most parts of the Sanctuary and every junction is identified with numbered posts. Sections of the Sanctuary are closed to traffic in order to provide a safe haven for timid species.

In order to ensure that the conservation efforts remain sustainable and to strengthen efforts in practicing responsible eco-tourism, the Sanctuary has established regulations that all visitors need to comply with. These include no off-road driving, observance of a 30 kph speed limit, conforming with opening and closing times, and respecting the fact that all the animals within the Sanctuary are wild and therefore should not be fed or harassed in any way.

The majority of the Sanctuary is unfenced, and as a consequence there is a considerable fluctuation in wildlife numbers (particularly elephant, buffalo and giraffe) in response to both water resources and food availability. Local herds of plains game (e.g. zebra, hartebeest, Grant's gazelle, eland etc.) support resident populations of predators (including lion, leopard and cheetah) throughout the year. Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary has three prides of lions which total more than 30 individuals - members are seen virtually every day.

The vegetation within the Sanctuary shows a north-south, as well as east-west gradient from bush to wooded savanna and grassland. Browsing species such as waterbuck, impala, bushbuck and reedbuck are normally encountered in riverine or marshy vegetation and are preyed on by leopard.

An electric fence along our northern boundary prevents elephant and buffalo from venturing into the neighboring villages and damaging crops. This is part of the commitment to supporting local communities.

The best times for viewing wildlife are early morning and mid to late afternoon. Light conditions at these times are also optimal for photography. The Sanctuary also offers a unique and unobtrusive facility for viewing wildlife from a different perspective in this area - night game drives. Since almost 40% of the wildlife species at Taita are nocturnal, night game drives provide guests with an opportunity of seeing animals not normally encountered on a conventional game drive (such as spotted and striped hyena, various species of mongoose, jackal, civet, genet, honey badger, porcupine and bushbaby). Since most of the predators are also more active at night, the chances of encountering them on such a trip are also increased.